


Throw me in the arms of your brother

by HopeSilverheart



Series: Loving Em at 2AM [30]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Criminals, BAMF Alec Lightwood, Banter, Clary Fray & Alec Lightwood Friendship, Clary Fray Loves her girlfriends, Crimes & Criminals, Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Found Family, Good brother Alec Lightwood, Humour, Lightwood Family Feels, M/M, Married Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Organized Crime, Protective Alec Lightwood, meeting the siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:14:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24779710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HopeSilverheart/pseuds/HopeSilverheart
Summary: When Isabelle and Lydia had told Clary that she would finally get to meet the mysterious Alec, brother and boss to the two women she loved, Clary hadn’t been sure what to expect.The man was a crime lord, the leader of a dangerous organisation that killed people and did all sorts of illegal things. He was probably the deadliest person Clary would meet in her life, and she had no idea how to handle that. However, he was also Isabelle’s brother, a man who was apparently caring and attentive and always ready to save his siblings from whatever disaster they had caused. That, she knew how to handle.Or: Clary finally meets the infamous Alec Lightwood and tries her best not to screw things up.
Relationships: Clary Fray & Alec Lightwood, Lydia Branwell/Clary Fray/Isabelle Lightwood, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Series: Loving Em at 2AM [30]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1764400
Comments: 6
Kudos: 131





	Throw me in the arms of your brother

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thatnerdemryn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatnerdemryn/gifts).



When Isabelle and Lydia had told Clary that she would finally get to meet the mysterious Alec, brother and boss to the two women she loved, Clary hadn’t been sure what to expect.

The man was a crime lord, the leader of a dangerous organisation that killed people and did all sorts of illegal things. He was probably the deadliest person Clary would meet in her life, and she had no idea how to handle that. However, he was also Isabelle’s brother, a man who was apparently caring and attentive and always ready to save his siblings from whatever disaster they had caused. _That_ , she knew how to handle.

Alec loved Isabelle and Lydia, just like Clary did. They had one thing in common; surely, their first meeting couldn’t go any worse than what she had come up with in her mind. They would probably just talk about Clary’s girlfriends, go through some sort of shovel-talk, and then make awkward small talk until someone saved Clary from a horrible death.

Or he might threaten her with some deep, dark secret she wasn’t aware she had and force her to break up with her girlfriends.

(She tried not to think about that second scenario, since the only thing it had resulted in was an emotional breakdown and a week of infernal nightmares.)

The point was, Alec Lightwood was an enigma. She hadn’t been able to find anything about him online, there had been no record of him ever going to university, and even Isabelle was usually tight-lipped when it came to him. He had a husband, she knew, but she wasn’t sure talking about the man he loved was a good idea.

As she stood in front of his office door, Lydia and Isabelle having dragged her there before leaving to take care of ‘business’, she tried to recall everything her girlfriends had ever said about Alec. When she lifted her hand to knock on the door, her fingers were shaking. This was it, the moment of truth. The moment when she found out whether the Lightwood family was truly as crazy as Isabelle had implied, or as dysfunctional as Lydia had mentioned.

“Come in!” Alec’s voice was as deep as she had imagined it, but it wasn’t hoarse at all. It was smooth and elegant and collected, and Clary was immediately even more nervous.

That wasn’t the voice of an insane psychopath who only cared about himself and killing his targets. It was the voice of a dangerous man who knew exactly how to charm people. Clary wondered if he would charm _her_ , too.

She walked in before she could talk herself out of it, hands clenching and unclenching at her sides as she entered the office and closed the door behind her. When she looked up, she came face to face with the man she had been dreading to meet. Alec Lightwood in the flesh.

He was as impressive as she had pictured, but he looked- He looked so much like Isabelle, and Clary wasn’t sure she could ever be afraid of someone who bore such resemblance to one of the women she loved. They held themselves in a similar way, confident and poised and always ready to attack – or protect, depending on the situation. It was both jarring and reassuring to see so much of Isabelle in her brother.

“Clary Fray, I presume?” Alec asked softly, gesturing towards the chair in front of his desk as he looked Clary up and down. She knew she was probably gaping unattractively, but could he blame her? The man was a _criminal_. “Please, have a seat. Izzy and Lydia told me you would be stopping by, but I wasn’t sure if you had changed your mind. I’ve heard a lot about you, you know?”

“You have?” Clary blurted out, blushing brightly once she realised how stupid she must have sounded. “Right, of course you have, since I’ve been dating your sister and second-in-command for quite a few months. Makes sense, really. I’ve heard a lot about you too, actually! Well, not nearly enough for me to know what you’re like, but Isabelle seems to really love you. And Lydia too, of course. I’m, um, honoured to meet you?”

“I’m sure you are,” the man snorted, leaning back and crossing his arms over his chest. Like that, he looked every inch the respected and feared leader Clary had pictured in her mind. “I’m surprised it took them so long to introduce us to each other. Usually, Isabelle and Lydia love taking me by surprised and throwing things at me without warning me first. You must be… quite special.”

Clary smiled softly, thinking about Isabelle and Lydia and their insistence that they weren’t keeping her away from Alec intentionally. Or at least, they weren’t trying to hide her. Clary had believed them, of course. It made sense that they were a bit apprehensive about this meeting; Clary and Alec didn’t exactly have a lot in common, at least not from what she could tell.

“They’re quite special for me too,” she admitted quietly, unconsciously raising a hand to the necklace her girlfriends had given her a month earlier. A promise, they had said. It was the only piece of jewellery Clary always wore. “But I’m not surprised this meeting took so long to happen. They were a bit… afraid, I think. Or they thought that I was afraid.”

“Were you?” Alec asked her immediately, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. “ _Are_ you afraid?”

Clary gulped, thinking about the guns undoubtedly strapped to the man’s thigh and hip, about the knives he had probably hidden in his boots, about the hundreds of people who would never hesitate to kill for him. Of course she was afraid.

“I’d be a fool not to be,” Clary murmured. “After all, your organisation isn’t one to be trifled with and, from what I understand, I’m dating two of your most highly-ranked lieutenants. Coming in here expecting to be liked and praised would have been a stupid move.”

“Indeed it would have,” Alec smirked. Clary thought it was almost approving, though the man smoothed his features over too fast for her to truly decipher anything. “My sister told me you were a smart one, but she never mentioned you had great instincts, too. You’re an artist, is that right?”

Clary blinked at the change of subject but nodded. Her art was a safe topic, something she knew and could talk about for hours if needed. She hadn’t expected Alec to ask her about it at all, but perhaps she shouldn’t have assumed anything about the man. Isabelle had warned her that he was unpredictable, especially when it came to protecting those he loved.

If he thought Clary was a threat to Isabelle and Lydia, the redhead knew he wouldn’t hesitate to get rid of her, consequences be damned.

“My husband and I have a few of your paintings at our place, courtesy of Lydia and Izzy,” he continued nonchalantly, clearly content to talk about something as inconsequential as Clary’s art. “You’re quite talented, Miss Fray; I understand why my sisters like you so much. And it’s quite the bonus for you, isn’t it? They respect your work, come to your shows, buy a few paintings every time…”

“Lydia and Isabelle are two of the most amazing people I have ever met,” Clary agreed. “I’ll never be able to thank them enough for being so supportive and understanding what working as an artist is like.”

“Hmm,” Alec hummed. “But what about you?”

Clary froze, wondering what on earth the man was talking about. There was a dangerous glint in his eyes that Clary didn’t recognise, and she felt like she was missing something important. Something that could make or break her relationship with Isabelle’s brother.

“I’m sorry,” she grimaced. “I’m not sure I understand what you’re talking about.”

“Izzy and Lydia have always been supportive of your work,” Alec said slowly, as though Clary was a child who needed to be taught a lesson. “But what about you? Are you supportive of _their_ work, or do you look down on them for participating in borderline-illegal missions? Just like the one they were on that night the three of you met.”

Clary winced at the reminder of that particular mission. When she had found out that Lydia and Isabelle had only come to her gallery for business, she had felt betrayed. Of course, she had gotten over it long ago, but she still remembered how much it had hurt at the time. However, now wasn’t the time to think about that.

Alec’s question was a valid one. Clary was an artist, an upstanding citizen of their country, and a strong believer in peace over violence. Isabelle and Lydia were… Well, they were artists in their own ways, but they were also criminals who dealt in all sorts of illegal businesses and had killed people.

It had taken her a long time to come to terms with that. Learning your girlfriends were murderers wasn’t exactly an easy pill to swallow. But she had dealt with that months ago, and Alec wasn’t about to catch her off guard with something she had finally managed to accept.

“Supportive might be a bit too strong,” she chuckled, clearing her throat when Alec failed to laugh. “However, I’ll always stand by them. I try my best to look after them and make sure they’re alright and stay out of their business. I know getting involved in the organisation would be a terrible idea, so I’ve learned to leave well enough alone. I don’t love the idea of my girlfriends repeatedly putting themselves in danger, but that’s not my choice to make. I love them, criminals or not.”

“But you’re afraid of me,” Alec pointed out. Clary grit her teeth, not wanting to get into a ridiculous argument with the man but refusing to let him compare himself to Isabelle and Lydia.

“That’s not the same thing and you know it,” Clary snapped. “Isabelle and Lydia are so much more than their job, and they’re not as dangerous as the man in charge. Besides, it’s not like I knew they were criminals when I first met them.”

“You didn’t,” Alec agreed, cocking his head to the side. “However, my sisters and I are a package deal. You can’t be afraid of me but not of them without coming off as a hypocrite. They’ll tell you it’s alright, but I won’t. I’m just as human as they are and if you want us to get along, you’ll have to accept that. I have a husband I love, just like they love you and each other. I have hobbies and a life outside of work, just like they do. I’m a criminal, but so are they. Either you’re afraid of all of us, or you’re afraid of none of us.”

“It’s not the same thing,” Clary repeated. “They love me, so I know they won’t hurt me. You, however, have no warm and fuzzy feelings for me, so who’s to say you won’t kill me as soon as you think you could get away with it?”

“I wonder if your girlfriends know what you think of me,” Alec said instead of continuing his previous line of thought. The man’s capacity to jump from topic to topic seamlessly was frustrating, and Clary wanted nothing more than to punch him so he could finally get to the point he was trying to make. “Izzy and Lydia love me, don’t they? And they love you too. I won’t hurt you because I know it would hurt them, which is the last thing I want. Question is, what about you? Would you rat me out to the police if you could?”

Clary opened her mouth only to snap it shut a second later. As much as she hated to admit it, Alec had a point. The man would never kill her for the same reasons that she would never put him in danger. Alec was Isabelle and Lydia’s family, and they couldn’t live without him.

Alec and Clary were stuck in each other’s lives, whether they wanted to be or not. The sooner Clary came to terms with the fact that her future brother-in-law was a criminal, the better.

“Alright, I get what you’re trying to say,” she muttered. “But what do you want me to do? Pretend I’m alright with all the shit you’ve done in the past?”

“Absolutely not,” Alec shook his head, chuckling softly. “Your innocence is one of the things Izzy and Lydia love about you. They love that you’re _good_ , just like I love Magnus for the same reason. All I want is for you not to flinch away from me if I ever try to hug you, and to let me protect you when you need it.”

“I don’t need your protection,” Clary bit out. “I have Isabelle and Lydia for that, and even that’s too much. Besides, I’m not going to accept pity escorts and bodyguards from a man who clearly can’t stand me. You’ve known me for what, ten minutes? And you’ve clearly already made up your mind about me.”

“Well, of course I have,” Alec rolled his eyes. “You’re my sisters’ girlfriend, and you’re clearly as good as they claimed you were. I don’t need to know about your hobbies or your personal life or your parents; I just wanted to make sure you loved them. You obviously do, and that’s enough for me. And since they love you too, it makes you family.”

He said it as though it was the most evident thing in the world. He called Clary family like it was what she had always been to him. He didn’t wince as he spoke, didn’t look down on her, and Clary thought his features even softened the more he talked. Lydia had told her that Alec was first and foremost a family person, but this was… It was something else.

How could someone she had thought of as almost evil be so… _loving_?

“Look, Fray,” Alec sighed, folding his hands over his desk and staring at her seriously. “I’m not going to lie and say we’ll be best friends in the future, because I doubt that’ll ever happen. You and I are two very different people, and I understand why you might not want to spend time with me. Believe me, I don’t particularly want to spend time with you either. However, for as long as Izzy and Lydia love you, you’ll be my little sister. I don’t have to like you to care about you, believe me.”

“Okay,” Clary nodded slowly, trying to wrap her head around this strange turn of events. “I can live with that, I think. Just… Don’t have people spy on me, alright? I’m pretty sure Isabelle and Lydia already have someone doing that for you.”

“Oh, I’m sure they do,” Alec grinned, his eyes flicking towards his door. “Just like they’re listening in on this conversation right now. Those two are too protective for their own good, and that’s coming from me. I think you should go find them and tell them everything is fine.”

“Yeah, I- I probably should,” Clary murmured, standing up suddenly and almost knocking her chair over. She winced and smiled apologetically at Alec, hurrying towards the door. “Thank you for the talk, and for being… Well, not completely terrifying.”

“No problem, Fray,” Alec smiled softly, looking years younger than he had during their conversation. “And welcome to the family.”

Clary left the room feeling both lighter and even more off-kilter than she had half an hour earlier.

She had a feeling being a part of the Lightwood family was going to be one hell of a ride.

**Author's Note:**

> Heya guys! Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed this series' three updates of the night, I personally had a lot of fun writing them. Alec & Clary are my favourite friendship to write so this was wonderful. I hope I did them both justice. 
> 
> Love, Junie. 
> 
> (find me on tumblr @hopesilverheart)


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